Joe Budden Believes Tory Lanez Was Set Up in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting: ‘She’s a Mere Pawn in This’

Joe Budden is skeptical that Tory Lanez was the triggerman with intentions of shooting Megan Thee Stallion during the dispute in 2020 that led to the Canadian singer being sentenced to a decade behind bars.

During Thursday’s (Aug. 1) episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Budden and his co-hosts debated the legitimacy of an affidavit supplied by the driver from the night of the July 2020 shooting in California following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house.

However, the rapper-turned-podcaster voiced his belief that Meg was merely a “pawn” in the situation and there could be higher powers at play when it came to taking down Lanez.

“What is more likely? Tory leaves the studio, goes to Kylie Jenner’s house, is having a blast, thinking he’s about to get the foursome popping off,” Budden asked. “Meg gets jealous — we know how they got in the car. What is more likely? That Tory was so angered in that car that he took Kelsey’s gun and shot her?”

Budden didn’t understand the reason as to why Tory Lanez would get so angry to the point he’d shoot Megan. “Y’all think a man is just shooting a girl for no reason? Give me a reason,” he said. “‘Cause the only reason we got was, ‘[Megan] said that I have more No. 1s than him.'”

“Or what’s more believable? Two people that was running around as best friends, new in the music industry, one gets COVID, comes back, finds out her best friend is f—ing the n—a that she’s f—ing on,” he theorized. “And this n—a was just about to get some Kylie Jenner a– … That guy is shooting? No, that guy wants to go back!”

Joe Budden speculated that Meg was a “pawn” in the ordeal and didn’t want to publicly give up the name of the person behind who “made it up.”

“I think it’s above her,” he continued. “I don’t think she made it up. She’s a mere pawn in this. This play is greater than her. She didn’t make nothing up. I ain’t gonna say who I think made it up … But it wasn’t her. N—as out there know who it is. I know exactly who it is, I know how that gun got there, I know who gun it was.”

The third party involved in the drunken dispute was Meg’s former friend Kelsey Harris, whom the “Pump It Up” rapper alleged slid into his DMs requesting that he not discuss her and the Meg-Tory shooting anymore on his podcast.

“The last time we talked about this sh–, I thought it was weird Kelsey jumped in my DMs like, ‘Hey, don’t talk about this no more.’ Why, ’cause you got immunity? That’s odd,” he added.

Tory Lanez remains behind bars after being sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2023. Months prior, Lanez was convicted on three felony counts related to shooting Megan in the foot.

“If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, I would,” he reportedly told the judge. “The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day.”

Following the December 2022 conviction, Budden changed his tune and apologized to Megan for joking about her mental health. “I’m apologizing to Meg,” he said on his podcast. “Meg, the people that love her, her handlers, her team, the people that have to support her through what has to be an exhausting trial. I listened back. I got a few phone calls from women that I love and appreciate and admire.”

While in prison, Lanez got his hands on recording equipment and released his “Wish I Never Met You (Prison Tapes)” single this past Friday.

Watch the episode below. The talk about Tory Lanez starts around the 21-minute mark.